Charles Barnard (1838–1920) was an American reporter, playwright and writer. He was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, February 13, 1838. He was the son of C. F. Barnard, a clergyman. He was unable to complete his studies to ministry due to bad health, and would work in a florist business. He regularly contributed to a number popular fiction magazines, including

The Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associati ...

, Smith's Magazine,

Scribner's Monthly ''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunc ...

Harper's New Monthly Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

Harper's Young People ''Harper's Young People'' was an American children's magazine between 1879 and 1899. The first issue appeared in the fall of 1879. It was published by Harper & Brothers. It was Harper's fourth magazine to be established, after ''Harper's Magazi ...

, Wide Awake and St. Nicholas. His works include ''The Soprano'' (1969), ''The Tone-Masters'' (1871), a biography of Camilla Urso by the name of ''Camilla'' (1871), ''Knights of To-Day'' (1881), The Whistling Buoy (1887) and ''The County Fair'' (1888), the latter among which was written with Neil Burgess and later adapted into a film of the same name (1920). His work has been noted as an often comedic avenue into a particularly broad collection of inventions and activities of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, charting perceptions of tools and technologies from electricity and telegraphy to common practices of vegetable gardening, the florist business, and fruit growing.

References

1838 births 1920 deaths American journalists American dramatists and playwrights {{US-writer-stub